Iron-Nicarbazin derived platinum group metal-free electrocatalyst in scalable-size air-breathing cathodes for microbial fuel cells.

In this work, a platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) catalyst based on iron as transitional metal and Nicarbazin (NCB) as low cost organic precursor was synthesized using Sacrificial Support Method (SSM). The catalyst was then incorporated into a large area air-breathing cathode fabricated by pressing with a large diameter pellet die. The electrochemical tests in abiotic conditions revealed that after a couple of weeks of successful operation, the electrode experienced drop in performances in reason of electrolyte leakage, which was not an issue with the smaller electrodes. A decrease in the hydrophobic properties over time and a consequent cathode flooding was suspected to be the cause. On the other side, in the present work, for the first time, it was demonstrated the proof of principle and provided initial guidance for manufacturing MFC electrodes with large geometric areas. The tests in MFCs showed a maximum power density of 1.85 W m-2. The MFCs performances due to the addition of Fe-NCB were much higher compared to the iron-free material. A numerical model using Nernst-Monod and Butler-Volmer equations were used to predict the effect of electrolyte solution conductivity and distance anode-cathode on the overall MFC power output. Considering the existing conditions, the higher overall power predicted was 3.6 mW at 22.2 S m-1 and at inter-electrode distance of 1 cm.

Removable air-cathode to overcome cathode biofouling in microbial fuel cells.

An innovative microbial fuel cell (MFC) design is described, which allows the air-cathode to be replaced easily without draining the electrolyte. MFCs equipped with 9-cm2 or 50-cm2 bioanodes provided 0.6 and 0.7W/m2 (referred to the cathode surface area) and were boosted to 1.25 and 1.96W/m2, respectively, when the initial air-cathode was replaced by a new one. These results validate the practical interest of removable air-cathodes and evidence the importance of the cathode biofouling that takes place during the MFC starting phase. As this biofouling is compensated by the concomitant improvement of the bioanodes it cannot be detected on the power curves and may be a widespread cause of performance underestimation.